Red
by greysky3
Summary: A drop dotted her cheek and he realized the wetness was coming from his own eyes. His entire body was trembling as he held her face.


He moved her damp hair out of her face, the blond turned reddish pink by the blood. "Marlene," he whispered, trying to wipe her face as best he could, but it kept getting wet. Her entire face was a mess of blood, sweat, and dampness, but he wanted to wash it all away, to see her beautiful, as he knew she was behind her grim mask of blood.

A drop dotted her cheek and he realized the wetness was coming from his own eyes. He wiped at them furiously, and felt her pulse once again. "Marlene," he said again, trying to force something louder than a whisper out of his broken voice. He shook her gently, willing her eyelids to open and let him see those blue eyes again. His entire body was trembling as he held her face.

He was vaguely aware of a presence next to him, and he tensed, ready to fire another spell at a Death Eater. He turned, a mad light in his eyes, ready to make someone suffer, scream in agony for what they'd done to Marlene. James' soil-streaked face appeared, and he kneeled back down, picking up her cold hand.

A hand, James', took out a vial and trickled its contents into the corner of Marlene's half-open mouth. Sirius saw his lashes, heavy with teardrops obscure his vision. He forced his eyes open and touched Marlene's face, and called her name again, trying to put pressure on her abdomen that was steadily oozing out red, the bright color fanning out into the dirty water that three people were sitting in.

"Can't…see…" Marlene muttered, groaning and trying to move. Sirius felt a new wave of blood try to escape through his fingers, and he gently pressed her back down to the ground.

"We're going to get you to St. Mungo's," Sirius said, his voice thick. James had left sometime ago, but he didn't care, couldn't care. "You'll be fine."

"No," Marlene said, a wisp of her old voice. A choking sound that could've been a laugh escaped her, and a trickle of blood poured out of her mouth.

"You—you are. You'll be fine," he repeated, gritting his teeth and wiping the crimson sweat out of his eyes. A flicker of blue under her eyelids told him she was attempting to get a last look of the world.

"I… can't see…" Marlene coughed out, dribbling yet more blood, more than Sirius thought anyone could ever bleed out. "My… last sight…" her voice died out and she groaned.

Sirius choked on his words. His last words to her, now that the time had come, he had nothing to say, nothing that could replace four years of an on-and-off relationship, no way he could properly tell her how he felt, how he wanted it to be more than casual.

"It's not your last," Sirius insisted gripping her hand yet more tightly.

Marlene shook her head, and her hair swirled into the water, stained even more deeply. Her eyes fluttered open for a second, but not enough for her to register more than a confused blur of Sirius and garnet drops.

"Listen," she whispered, and he leaned in to hear the almost insubstantial words she was having difficulty producing. She smiled painfully as she felt his familiar overlong hair tickle her nose. "Promise… promise it'll only be me."

"No one could ever replace you," Sirius said, his voice cracking. Marlene leaned back into the pool and gave up, at peace at last. She listened to Sirius speaking to her, his voice soothing her. She wanted his voice to be the last thing she heard. "Didn't you know?" Sirius said, with a touch of desperation as he felt her relax into the ground, as if she didn't want to fight anymore, didn't want to try.

"It was never just a fling. It was more. It could never be anyone but you," he explained, his words turning into a plea. "Marlene?"

He felt her pulse, but he was feeling wrong, he wasn't feeling anything. "MARLENE?" his words turned into a shout. He tried again, her wrist, her neck, until his pleas became one steady shout, and James and maybe Lily came to pull him away.

Sirius had become his true Animagus form, though he had not transformed. He was howling, snarling and biting like a dog, snapping at whoever approached him. James shouted to Remus who brought over a powerful sleeping draught and spoke in calm tones to the rabid Sirius who would not listen. He held him down and brought the potion to his lips, as Sirius shouted incomprehensible things.

No one, not even James, understood why he was shouting about St. Mungo's.


End file.
